By giving physical embodiment to recorded interviews, verbatim theatre creates a remarkably powerful form of communication that is far more intimate than video.

Auckland Museum's auditorium might have been on the European concert circuit this month, hosting two top-notch pianists just weeks apart.

It's a bold call to make murder victim the cruel and deserving villain, but it works, writes Duncan Greive.

Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's Thursday concert had enough joie de vivre for a lifetime of Bastille Day celebrations, writes William Dart.

In the summer of 2012, Call Me Maybe exploded across radio, launching talent agent Scooter Braun's latest project Carly Rae Jepsen into the limelight.

Playwright Gary Stalker's intriguingly titled work pulls off a surprising feat with sophisticated, unashamedly literary writing.

The three choreographers contributing state of the art pieces for this ground-breaking season with the New Zealand Dance Company were given the brief of "light, illumination, space, image and movement" by the company's artistic director Shona McCullagh.

The finale of True Detective season two was everything the previous episodes hadn't been. It was exciting, it was tense, most of all, it was coherent.

A grinding, persuasive power binds this collection of short fiction and essays, many of which have been published elsewhere in the past two or three years.

Did you forget about Dre? No one would blame you if you did. The godfather of gangster rap has spent more time making headphones than releasing new music lately.

A mid-winter Messiah comes with a certain olde worlde appeal and on Sunday Viva Voce went to some lengths to make this a Messiah with a difference.

Duncan Greive has a look at TV3's new 7pm offering - Story. So what's the verdict?

When he founded Te Araroa - the national walkway - Geoff Chapple encouraged us to go out and see the extraordinary beauty of this land of the long white cloud.

In Benjamin Markovits' vivid new novel, the city becomes a symptom of America gone wrong. He tells Mick Brown about losing out and fitting in.

So one Direction have made their first musical statement post-Zayn Malik's departure.

Adam Lambert played Auckland's Civic Theatre last night, delighting a full house of devoted fans with his "therapy session".

Unnecessary narration and lazy scripting make TVNZ's new series Bogans a boring affair, writes Michele Hewitson.

Some of our biggest TV talent lies not in A-list actors and big name presenters, but everyday Kiwis residing in the provinces, writes Duncan Greive.

The first episode of MasterChef NZ included a fish dish that looked like prison food and a contestant who had never seen the show.

Karl Puschmann takes a closer look at New Zealand's latest TV streaming service - and doesn't like what he finds.

Netflix reunites comedy A-listers to revive cult comedy classic, Wet Hot American Summer. And the result is absurdly brilliant.

There are sparks of humanity to be found in Success' skilfully drawn takes on deeply flawed middle-aged former buddies.

Tom Cruise's latest Mission: Impossible film is darker and funnier than its immediate predecessor and feels more like a Euro-espionage thriller than a spy story stuck on an action chassis.

Wilco is giving this album away for free. Maybe it's the guilt of making ardent fans of the respected Chicago art-rock outfit fork out for their 77-track "odds and sods" collection Alpha Mike Foxtrot from last year.

Wondering what to see at the International Film Festival? Here are our latest reviews from the Auckland leg of the nationwide event.

Bullet Heart Club is well-named: the outfit that produced Rochelle Bright's heartbreaker hit Daffodils now brings us Bright's shot at heart-stopping suspense.

Disney on Ice's Dare to Dream had my whole family mesmerised. Stunning, magnificent and magical - the production will not disappoint.